Suzette Charles made her first working appearance as Miss...

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- Suzette Charles made her first working appearance as Miss America at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday for a new shopping mall and said 'I don't have any secrets.'

Miss Charles schedule since she became Miss America July 23 when Vanessa Williams was forced to surrender her crown over nude photographs published in Penthouse magazine.

The former Miss New Jersey said the controversy was 'a reflection on the individuals involved, and it has nothing to do with the Miss America pageant system, and we will just continue on that note It's over and I intend to move on and pretend that I was Miss America in September.'

'I don't have any secrets,' she said. 'I had to confess my mother might have nude pictures of me when I was 5 years old, but I don't think anyone would be interested in publishing them.'

'We're all human beings and we all have skeletons in our closets,' she said. 'I'm not in a position to judge ... and the pageant knows what's best for the system. The pageant doesn't use women - it helps women.'